


Big Hawk's Favourite Palace Guard

by neuronary



Series: The Big Hawk Chronicles [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fanfiction of Fanfiction, Gen, Salvage, have fun guys, i needed to clarify a thing, i reread salvage and checked my outline for big hawk's fav prisoner and
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23479396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neuronary/pseuds/neuronary
Summary: Azula receives some tragic news. Ozai receives some scratches.
Relationships: Azula & Big Hawk
Series: The Big Hawk Chronicles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1632730
Comments: 24
Kudos: 1124





	Big Hawk's Favourite Palace Guard

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Salvage](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116591) by [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/pseuds/MuffinLance). 



> so, on my fourth (fifth?) re-read of salvage, i realised i'd completely forgotten to account for some timeline stuff. this is correcting that for later. also i missed big hawk and i wanted to cathartically cause ozai some suffering.

Erhi was pretty used to the princess’ disappearances. It didn’t happen often enough to be particularly noteworthy, but every so often she would travel - she was the crown princess, and took her duties to her nation very seriously - or leave to aid training for special troops. She’d been working in the royal palace for almost three years, having been employed after an enormous overturn (directly after Prince Zuko’s banishment, but they didn’t talk about that if they wanted to keep their jobs). She knew how these things worked.

At least, she thought she did. Until her friend Bohai asked if she could keep her mouth shut and offered her a half day with triple her usual pay. She hadn’t really thought about why when she said yes. Tuya wanted to travel to the colonies for university, and her mother had been lamenting her low stock of fabrics. They could use the extra funds. Erhi could use a trip home.

She really should have thought about why.

All this to say, Erhi was not feeling the most safe as she was led underground the palace (she didn’t know there  _ was _ an underground the palace), to an actual literal prison.

And the real life Fire Lord Ozai, blessed may he be by Agni’s Light, just to slim down her chances of survival that extra little bit.

“Put down the clothes, and bow, then follow him in and  _ don’t help her dress _ ,” Bohai muttered.

Erhi didn’t tremble when she was afraid. As much as her mind raced, her body never betrayed her. It was a good thing, at times like these. She tried not to think about why she was carrying a basket of white robes. The gold trim flickered slightly, reflecting the torches on the wall.

Erhi wasn’t a fire-bender, but she still felt cold without the sun. She didn’t have the same inner flame, but she still shivered slightly underground. What did it mean to fire-benders?

When she stepped into the cell, the princess was in perfect seiza. Erhi had not seen her up close before today, but she had caught glimpses. Princess Azula looked younger than she remembered - maybe it was the lack of makeup - but just as regal.

“My Lord.”

“A letter arrived from the Southern Water Tribe this morning with some tragic news.”

Erhi didn’t understand the significance of the Fire Lord’s words but she recognised it. The princess’ face did not shift, even slightly.

“Prince Zuko was murdered by the pirates that held him in cold blood. The nation will mourn his loss, of course. There was nothing to be done. The water tribe savages could not be reasoned with.” Fire Lord Ozai paused, as though he expected the princess to say something. Perhaps he did. He was talking about the princess’ own brother. Everyone knew that he felt exactly nothing for the banished prince, but the princess’ opinions on him were unclear. “His funeral will be held once we have arranged the forces to retaliate against this horrific crime.” Still, the princess said nothing. “The robes.” 

Erhi started slightly, and hurried forward to place the basket on the… it wasn’t quite a bed. The princess stood as gracefully as she did anything else and changed quickly. Fire Lord Ozai was already leaving and Erhi glanced between him and the princess, unsure.

“You’re supposed to stay while I dress.” Princess Azula’s voice was quiet, controlled. Erhi wondered if she had loved her brother, if she was simply that good at hiding.

“Thank you, your highness.”

The princess waved a hand delicately. Her nails were unpainted, which was unusual, and had faint white lines spread across the fingertips. Painful looking burns, but old. She fastened the belt around the kimono tightly and smoothed it down her front. “You can leave now.”

Erhi bowed and collected the basket. The clothes had been switched out. They looked like the princess was not usually afforded the opportunity to change. The thought made her stomach turn slightly. This had been an attack, carefully estimated to be more painful than simply leaving her.

Bohai shot her a sympathetic look as she stepped out of the cell. She didn’t dare return it. He was stationed as a guard down here. She didn’t think it would make much difference if the princess escaped.

\---

Bohai wasn’t easily shaken. Working as a palace guard did that to you. It had also left him slow to react, which was absolutely going to be his excuse for why the Fire Lord was left to battle the princess’ overgrown hawk on his own for almost a full minute.

By which point, he had thrown a lot of fireballs all over the place, so Bohai would say he was probably doing just fine by himself. (The hawk was doing even better, somehow, and screeching in a way that could only be described as territorial.) Erhi took one look at the disaster that was making its way towards her with searing heat and bolted. Bohai didn’t blame her.

Other guards had finally wised up to the nature of the problem and joined in with the fireballing. Bohai, in all the chaos, got away with rolling his eyes. Fire-benders. He pulled the keys off of his belt and unlocked the door to the princess’ cell.

She raised an eyebrow.

He tilted his head ever-so-slightly in the Fire Lord’s direction.

She took her sweet time crossing to lean into the bars and let out a shrill whistle.

The flames went out. The hawk gave one more indignant squawk and waddled over to the cell.

**Author's Note:**

> azula has favourite guards. these guards have good things in store. once she's fire lord. they just have to be patient. also salvage now comes up as a predicted url for 'this work was inspired by another work'. fun fact.


End file.
